Electrical implants that shut down
excessive activity in brain cells hold
great potential for treating epilepsy
and chronic pain. Likewise, devices
that enhance neurons’ activity may
help restore function to people with
nerve damage.

Migraine pain sits at the upper end of the typical pain scale – an angry-red section often labeled “severe.” At this intensity, pain is debilitating. Yet many sufferers do not get relief from – or cannot tolerate – over-the-counter and commonly prescribed pain medications. Recently, a team of researchers that includes Dr. Marom Bikson, associate professor of biomedical engineering in CCNY’s Grove School of Engineering, has shown that a brain stimulation technology can prevent migraine attacks from occurring.

Cervical collars were first developed during the Vietnam War to stabilize the heads and necks of accident victims, but research has shown that this device may be overdue for an update. Students at Rice University tested a currently used cervical collar and found that when a patient's neck is injured, the collar can push the head away from the body — potentially doing more harm than good. They recently built a prototype of a new type of cervical collar, called the HeadCase, that immobilizes the head without putting pressure on the neck.

Neurofeedback — a type of biofeedback in which a person becomes aware of
the physiological state of their body, and can manipulate and control this at will — has been proven to be an effective form of therapy for a variety of conditions, such as migraine, epileptic seizures, and ADHD. For example, SmartBrain Technologies licensed NASA neurofeedback research (originally intended for pilots and air traffic controllers), and is now using those techniques to help children afflicted with ADHD. Now, researchers at the University of Glasgow aim to utilize neurofeedback to reduce neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis patients or stroke victims.

Crewmembers returning from long-duration
space flight face significant
challenges due to the microgravity-induced
inappropriate adaptations in
balance/sensorimotor function. The
Neuroscience Laboratory at JSC is developing
a method based on stochastic resonance
to enhance the brain’s ability to
detect signals from the balance organs
of the inner ear and use them for rapid
improvement in balance skill, especially
when combined with balance training
exercises. This method involves a stimulus
delivery system that is wearable/portable and provides imperceptible
electrical stimulation to the balance
organs of the human body.

The days of being blinded by glare from the sun, despite
the $300 sunglasses straddling your face, may soon be
over. Since 2003, Chris Mullin, PhD, and CEO of Dynamic
Eye (Pittsburgh, PA), has teamed up with University at
Buffalo electrical-engineering professor Albert Titus, PhD, to
develop sunglasses that detect bright spots of light and darken
specific parts of the lens to protect sunglasses wearers
from blinding glare.

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease) is a lung disease associated
with airflow obstruction. A chronic,
debilitating, and sometimes fatal condition,
COPD is one of the most common
lung diseases, predicted to be the fifth
leading cause of disease burden by the
year 2020, according to the World Health
Organization. Unlike heart disease and
cancer, it is the only major disease seeing
an increased death rate each year among
both men and women.

Today, surgeons face many limitations when it comes
to helping a patient who suffers from a severe craniofacial
injury, or an injury pertaining to the skull
and the face. Most often a result of cancer or warrelated
circumstances, the injury is both psychologically
and physically damaging.

Right now, signals from your brain are instructing the
muscles around each eye to contract, panning your view
left to right and adjusting focus along the way. The photoreceptors
in your eyes react to the photons reflecting off
each letter, ultimately transmitting information through the
optic nerve, back to the primary visual cortex, where they are
translated into meaning. Although it goes mostly unnoticed,
your nervous system is constantly hard at work.

Time and again, gaming technology has proven its ability to benefit our lives in ways that surpass entertainment. It has been utilized in medical and therapeutic applications ranging from helping stroke victims restore functionality, to training users to control stress and multi-task. Another example recently came to my attention this morning, thanks to this news story, which explains how a virtual reality game called SnowWorld is helping burn patients cope with severe pain during wound care sessions, when morphine is simply not strong enough to do the job.

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Christopher Scott

To find out more about the expertise that Eurofins brings to this area, and the company's plans for expansion into the United States, Medical Device Briefs recently spoke with Christopher Scott, vice president of Eurofins Medical Device Testing.